Let's Go!

I had a fantastic weekend. How about you? I spent my weekend learning more about nutrition, exercises, yoga, and goal completions. Over the next few weeks I will be sharing more with you about these.

So, today is Monday. The beginning of the week for some. It is the day you set the tone for what you want out of your week. Sunday afternoon/night is when you should have put together your list of things that you must get accomplished. The great thing about setting up a schedule is that you can stay focused on each task without feeling overwhelmed. Life can pull you in many directions so make sure you prepare yourself for it.

I was asked about what foods are good vs bad and my response was that food is not bad, it is how it is prepared that changes it or makes it less nutritious for us. For example, potatoes are full of nutrients that our bodies need such as vitamin B6, vitamin C, potassium, iron, and calcium to name a few. Now, let's bake the potato and add very little seasoning (salt/pepper) to keep it as close to its natural state and we have a great item to go with our meal. However, let's take that same potato, add butter, cheese, sour cream, chives, and bacon bits. Now you have created a high fat item to go along with your meal that is higher in calories, especially saturated fats. What this does is change the overall percentage of carbs, fat, and protein for your meal. If your goal is to have a 500 calorie meal you just achieved that with the second potato leaving no room for the other items on your plate. When you eat your complete meal, you will overconsume calories putting you in a caloric overload and if these calories are not used they will be stored as fat. So, just by changing what you add to your potato, you alter the calories, carbs, fat, and protein. This will work against you especially if your goal is weight loss and you are not adjusting your meals to make room for the excess calories. Keep this in mind as you are feeding yourself today. Ask yourself, do you really need to add the extra butter, salt, sugar, ketchup, mustard, relish, mayo, bbq, soy, and teriyaki to your items? Can you still enjoy your item without it? Can you just put a small dash, or sprinkle of it instead of drowning your food in it? Have a fantastic Monday!